DiBrino Crashes But Finishes Strong in Superstock 600 Class

A crash during qualifying took Andy DiBrino down but not out as he battled through pain and grabbed 11th in Race 1 and then sixth in Race 2 this weekend for the Superstock 600 class in the 2015 MotoAmerica series held at the Virginia International Raceway.

It was the third round overall for the new home of the AMA Superbike series but Round 2 for the Superstock 600 class which did not race in Austin for Round 1 or in August for the Indianapolis round because of a conflict with MotoGP.

On Friday during Qualifying 1 while cranking along just a bit more than 100 mph, DiBrino tucked the front of his bike which sent him tumbling into the grass siding. He escaped serious injury but his bike didn't so he called it a day but not before posting a lap time that seeded him 10th. His crew got the bike rebuilt for Qualifying 2 and Race 1 on Saturday.

DiBrino came back strong for the second day of qualifying and beat his earlier mark from Friday which got him in the second row for both races something he said he needed to work on from the last round in Atlanta.

Andy DiBrino - This and above photo : Brian J. Nelson

"It was a huge improvement over Atlanta for practice and qualifying. I finally just got myself to get out of my comfort zone more and go for it," said DiBrino, a MotoSport rider. "That's how it has to be done to be competitive at this level."

Still sore from the crash, DiBrino fell to 10th in the opening laps of Race 1 and got within passing distance of Curtis Murray in ninth on the last lap but got drafted by Nick McFadden behind him in the final moments so he settled for 11th. DiBrino said he could barely stand after getting into the pits and took four hours to recover from the race.

For Race 2, a new bike setup thanks to mechanic Eric Dorn clearly made a difference as DiBrino got the start he'd been looking for since the last round and only trailed Richie Escalante, Joe Roberts and Travis Wyman, the current Top 3 riders in the series. It wasn't long though before he had to fend off those behind him and he settled for sixth-place, his third Top 10 finish of the season, barely missing out on a second Top 5.

"I really learned a lot this weekend on how important the first five laps of the race are," he said. "That's what I need to keep working on as well as starting up front like I did."

Joe Roberts leading and on his way to a Race 1 win

Elsewhere, Roberts, a MotoSport rider, lost his lead in points after crashing in Moto 2. He beat Escalante by more than two seconds in Race 1 for the win but Escalante got his first win of the season after Roberts' crash on Lap 5 of Moto 2. He now leads the field in points with 78, three more than Roberts and six over Wyman in third. DiBrino is in sixth place but tied with Bryce Prince and Nick McFadden with 34 points.

Riders get a small break before next round at Road America May 29-31 in Elkhart Lake, WI. It's one of the fastest tracks on the circuit featuring long runs and more than four mile laps with eight left-hand corners and six right-hand corners.